Jeanette Winter

1939 -

(2009 Kerlan Award)

The Kerlan Award is given "in recognition of singular attainments in the creation of children's literature and in appreciation for generous donation of unique resources to the Kerlan Collection for the study of children's literature." The books listed below are owned by the University of Minnesota Duluth (UMD) Library.

Author

Winter, Jeanette. (2003). Beatrix : various episodes from the life of Beatrix Potter. New York : Farrar Straus Giroux. 823 W74b

This simple biography of Beatrix Potter, best known for writing The tale of Peter Rabbit, includes excerpts from her published letters and journals and reveals why she drew and wrote about animals.

"After amassing piles of books, Luis, a voracious reader, dreams up a way to share his collection with 'faraway villages.' He starts with two burros -- one for himself, one for books -- and heads off. Tough terrain and menacing bandits challenge him along the way, but at last he reaches a remote town, where he holds a story hour and loans titles to eager kids before returning home to his wife and reading late into the night." Amazon.com

"When Henri Matisse was a boy, he drew pictures everywhere. And when he grew up, he became a famous artist whose paintings were beloved around the world. Then late in life, a serious illness confined Henri to just his bed and a wheelchair. But amazingly, from there he created some of his finest works, the enormous and breathtaking paper cut-outs."--Jacket flap.

True story of a librarian’s struggle to save her community’s collection of books in war-stricken Iraq.

Winter, Jeanette. (2006). Mama : a true story in which a baby hippo loses his mama during a tsunami, but finds a new home and a new mama. Orlando : Harcourt. 599.63 W785m

When the tsunami struck on December 26, 2004, a herd of hippos was swept out to sea and an infant hippo was separated from his mother. He was rescued and taken to a park where he headed for a 130-year-old male giant tortoise, which eventually took on the role of "Mama" for the orphan.

Joseph Cornell loved to draw and paint and collect things. With these drawings and paintings and collected treasures, he made marvelous shadowboxes--wonderlands covered in glass. And who did he most like to share them with? Children, of course.

Presents, in brief text and illustrations, the life of the painter who drew much of her inspiration from nature.

Winter, Jeanette. (2009). Nasreen's secret school : a true story from Afghanistan. New York : Beach Lane Books. 371.823 W785n

Based on a true story. After her parents are taken away by the Taliban, young Nasreen stops speaking. Her brave grandmother has heard of a secret school, open because the Taliban has forbidden education for girls. Grandmother hopes that education will open the windows of Nasreen’s mind, and as she spends time in a secret school, she slowly breaks out of her shell.

When she was a little girl, Jane Goodall loved to watch all the animals in her world until she learned as much as she could about them. When she grew up, she traveled to Africa to study chimpanzees. She lived among them and earned the trust of the chimp she named David Greybeard who let her come close and watch him make tools and do other things people thought animals "couldn't do."